"Hahaha, I will also be unemployed..."
In the palace of Genyue Terrace in Kaifeng Mansion, the maniacal laughter of a man who had just lost his job came out.
This man just lost a job that paid him $6 million a year, and what's worse is that no one in the world will hire him anymore... even though he's not even 35 yet. What's even more heartbreaking is that he has a very large family to support and he doesn't have much savings.
This man is Zhao Kai, the Emperor of the Song Dynasty!
Oh, what he lost was the job given to his brother-in-law by Zhao Huan, the emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty next door. As for the job of the Emperor of the Song Dynasty... this was a career he created by his own business. It would not be destroyed until the country was overthrown or he took control of it. Collapse, generally will not be lost.
However, this business currently does not bring much income to Zhao Kai, because four of the seven roads under the Luoyang imperial court are camp roads that do not "make money"... Of course, they cannot make money either. These four roads were abolished because they are the core competitiveness of Zhao Kai's career!
And two of the remaining three paths are "making money" transfer paths, which can "make" more than 10 million a year. It looks like a lot, but these over 10 million have to support such a large empire, support so many officials, pay "overtime pay" and "equipment subsidies" to so many soldiers, and make roads for Hexi Jiedu This country is burning a lot of money to fill holes in the road, and it has to squeeze out money to spend on the magnificent cause of unifying China and colonizing the world... It is really not rich!
So after Zhao Kai, an official, got a part-time job with an annual salary of 6 million, the Song Dynasty court, which was living in a tight life, stopped paying tribute to the emperor. Anyway, Zhao Kai can't spend all the 6 million yuan, and can save more than 5.5 million yuan every year. If it weren't for this deposit, it would not be so easy for Zhao Kai to launch the Northern Expedition. Before attacking the gold thieves, he might have to send people to Sichuan to plunder them!
Now Zhao Huan suddenly fired Zhao Kai without giving him a penny of compensation, which immediately made Zhao Kai and the entire Luoyang court seriously unable to make ends meet. Although relying on the more than 10 million saved in the past few years, Zhao Kai and the Luoyang court can maintain a wartime state of about ten months... But is ten months enough?
It seems a bit confusing!
Moreover, according to the original plan, Zhao Kai's army would have to train for several more months before sending out troops in the summer - the Jurchens liked the cold and were afraid of the heat, so sending troops in the summer would be beneficial to the Song Dynasty!
When the time comes, choose a hot day and the two armies confront each other in the sun. The Jurchens' combat effectiveness will be reduced by at least 30%!
You might get heat stroke if you stay in the sun for a long time... And according to the information Zhao Kai has, the average age of the Jurchen soldiers is now much older than the average age of Zhao Kai's Song Army soldiers. The camp is full of uncles!
The average age of Meng'an and Mouke officers is even more than 40 years old! At such an age, the condition is a little worse. How can it be better after one or two hours in the bright sun?
So Zhao Kai wanted to schedule the battle on a hot day.
But now it’s no longer possible, there’s not enough money!
In addition, before the start of this war, Zhao Kai's army underwent a comprehensive upgrade. The tactics, equipment, and organization of the troops are all different from before.
And Zhao Kai himself is not a military strategist. He is only a sophomore in high school. His knowledge of gunpowder warfare comes from "Total War"... Of course, this knowledge from "Total War" is very useful. of!
This knowledge allowed Zhao Kai to know the development direction of black powder weapons and what the ultimate form of gunpowder weapons would be, eliminating the painstaking process of groping in the dark.
In addition, relying on the knowledge gained from "Total War" and some related materials, Zhao Kai also knew what the organization and tactics of the black powder era were like.
But if you only know the general outline and don't know the details, you can't really organize the troops. Moreover, Zhao Kai's artillery factory has only produced practical cannons and grenades, but has not yet come up with muskets that can be used in actual combat - muskets such as fire door guns and three-eyed blunderbuss are already available, and they are all made of copper. of. However, the results after the trial were not satisfactory, so the troops were not equipped.
Therefore, the new army of the Northern Song Dynasty now mixed bows, arrows, grenades and cannons. How to use the combination of bows, arrows, grenades and cannons needs to be explored in training, exercises and actual combat.
Zhao Kai summoned 240,000 soldiers to Kaifeng Mansion ten months in advance, and also personally took charge of Kaifeng Mansion. In addition to strengthening training, he also wanted to find out a more feasible set of tactical battles through repeated exercises. Law.
But now the actual combat exercises of the army have only been carried out to the general level, and the exercises at the division and corps levels have not been carried out at all. They have only conducted some war games. It seems that they can only go into battle in a hurry!
Finally, in order to save military expenses, Zhao Kai divided the more than 400,000 soldiers under his command into the first and second lines.
Among them, the 240,000 people gathered in Kaifeng Prefecture were front-line troops and the main force of this Northern Expedition. Priority will be given to equipping new firearms, and long-term training will also be conducted.
Among the remaining more than 200,000 government soldiers, except for tens of thousands who are serving on the field and performing garrison duties, the rest are resting in the countryside.
According to the plan, they will begin mobilization within a month before the front-line troops launch an attack, and then be organized into generals without artillery to serve as reserves or garrison troops.
But now Zhao Kai no longer has time to wait for these troops to complete mobilization and assembly. He must start the war immediately.
They rushed into battle in a hurry, and the military expenditure was only enough to sustain the war for ten months. Nearly half of the army had not completed mobilization... How could they not be confident enough?
However, although Zhao Kai, who has been an official for eight years, is not as reckless as when he was young, he has learned to hide his uneasiness.
After a burst of laughter, Zhao Kai, who was cash-strapped, smiled and said to the courtiers below: "Since Zhao Huan wants to help Zhou do evil, I will send troops early to deal with the gold thieves first, and then go back to drink from the Yangtze River and unify the Yangtze River. World! Are you willing to go to the battlefield with me and gain wealth and honor together?"
Han Shizhong was the first to raise his arms and shout: "I am willing to follow the official family to destroy the barbarians in the north and attack the national traitors in the south!"
Yue Fei then shouted: "Fei is willing to be the king's pioneer, to step on Yanshan Mountain, cross the Yangtze River, and bring peace to the world for the officials!"
very good!
Seeing that the two most capable generals under his command were both confident, the trace of uneasiness in Zhao Kai's heart disappeared without a trace.
Zhao Kai added: "According to the plan drawn up by the Department of Camping and Joining the Army, the 12 armies under the jurisdiction of the camp will be divided into the North and South Route Army. The South Route Army will be commanded by Yue Fei, Huang Wuji will be his deputy, and Xu Qing will join the army and be under his jurisdiction. Li Shifu’s Second Army, Niu Gao’s Fifth Army, Wang De’s Sixth Army, Wu Jie’s Seventh Army, Wang Gui’s Ninth Army, and Li Qiong’s Twelfth Army!”
The generals whose names were called all came out one by one and stood in a row behind Yue Fei.
Zhao Kai went on to say: "I personally lead the Northern Route Army, with Han Shizhong as the commander-in-chief, He Ji as deputy commander, and Zhang Xian as a member of the army. Under his jurisdiction are Dong Jingang's First Army, Qu Duan's Third Army, and Yang Zhengzhi. The Fourth Army, Wang Xun’s Tenth Army, and Tian Shidu’s Eleventh Army!”
The people whose names were called also came out one by one, headed by Han Shizhong, who was also listed in a row.
Zhao Kai finally said: "Xiang Ke will be the general manager of Kaifeng camp, Zong Lin will be his deputy, and Wu Lin will join the army!"
Xiang Ke, Zong Lin, and Wu Lin came out one after another.
Zhao Kai looked at the group of valiant and high-spirited generals below and nodded with satisfaction: "Tomorrow we will swear an oath on the Kaifeng grassland, and then we will march in two groups to fight against the gold thieves and return to our homeland... I will lead a million tigers to reach The land of Youyan!”
...
On the first day of March in the seventh year of Hongwu in the Song Dynasty, on the grassland outside Kaifeng Prefecture, the 240,000 soldiers of the Twelfth Army of the Northern Expedition had formed more than a hundred square formations as units. Each square formation was neatly organized. It's like cutting with a knife and chopping with an axe.
The soldiers who formed these phalanxes were all wearing brand new red jackets, wearing armor but not helmets, and their heads were all wrapped in red scarves!
This is the 240,000 Red Turban Army! Standing in the wilderness, it is boundless, like a vast red ocean, with countless spears stretching out like a forest. When the spring sun shines, it reflects dazzling light like a steel jungle.
In front of these military formations, there are also bronze cannons placed. Some are hot pot cannons, and some are long bronze cannons. The bronze cannon bodies and black muzzles all look very fine and are obviously carefully processed. The products manufactured should have full power.
Seeing the artillery one after another, all the Song Army soldiers straightened their chests, and their morale was really high!
There are 40 cannons in one army! 20,000 men with 40 cannons... Was this the level of the European army in the Napoleonic era?
The twelve armies here are equipped with a total of 480 cannons, including 384 cannons and 96 mortars, all of which are high-quality bronze artillery... With such firepower, how could they lose?
While everyone was waiting quietly, they saw dozens of war horses arriving like dragons, surrounded by more than a hundred cavalry wearing war armor. There are also eight tall knights, holding six black banners and two white flags - this is the symbol of the Emperor of the Song Dynasty, and all the soldiers present know it.
But what they don't know yet is that the couplets on the two white flags have been replaced and replaced by: Tigers are running for millions, reaching the land of Youyan; Dragons are flying on the 9th, reopening the sky of the Song Dynasty!
After Zhao Kai changed the flag couplet of the Red Scarf Army back then, it became his emperor's banner... This can also be regarded as a tribute to the heroes of the Red Scarf Army in another time and space!
"Long live Long live Long live......"
I don’t know who took the lead and cheered loudly. In just a blink of an eye, the shouts covered the sky and the earth. Every Song Army soldier raised his weapons (mainly spears), but the shouts were hoarse. Calling: "Long live, long live, long live my emperor..."
Zhao Kai reined in his horse and looked at the endless sea of cheering people in front of him. A surge of pride immediately rose from the bottom of his heart: The chosen one... I am the chosen one!
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